Beef Pot Pie

January 17, 2024

Presentation on this one is nice and use of puff pastry makes making the topping very easy. The filling is a typical beef stew and I expect this some method would work well with a pork or chicken stew used as the filling.

Summary

  • Prep Time: 20 min
  • Cook Time: 90 min
  • Other: Cooling time
  • Total Time: 110 min
  • Servings: 6
  • Yield: 6 pies

Ingredients

Includes quantity for 3 servings in parentheses

  • 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter (2 tbsp)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (1 tbsp)
  • 2 lbs beef stew meat (1 lb) 
  • 1 1/2 cups (195g) diced carrots (1/2-inch dice) (98g)
  • 1 1/2 cups (180g) diced celery (1/2-inch dice) (90g)
  • 2 shallots, minced (1)
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard (1/2 tsp)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced (1.5 cloves)
  • 3 tbsp all-purpose flour (1.5 tbsp), plus more for flouring
  • 1 lb cremini or white button mushrooms (1/2 lb)
  • 1/2 cup (4 oz) red wine (2 oz)
  • 1/2 can beef broth
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 bay leaves (1)
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme (1)
  • Three 17.3-ounce packages frozen puff pastry, such as Pepperidge Farm, thawed (1 1/2 packages)
  • 4 slices crisp-cooked bacon, chopped (2 slices)
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (1/2 tbsp)
  • 1 large egg

Directions

  1. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a heavy pot. Sear the meat over medium-high heat in batches until brown, 4 to 5 minutes; remove to a plate.
  2. Add the carrots, celery and shallots and saute until the vegetables start to wilt, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the mustard, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the flour and saute for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine, beef broth and 1 cup water. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir. Bring to a boil. Return the browned meat to the pot and reduce the heat to low. Add the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, then cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
  3. After 45 minutes, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons flour with a little water and pour into the stew. Cook and thicken for 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
  4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  5. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry sheets one by one to get rid of the creases. Set a 6- to 8-inch ovensafe skillet upside down on a pastry sheet and cut a circle around it, making it 1/2 inch larger than the dish. Repeat with the remaining 5 skillets using all of the pastry sheets; discard the scraps.
  6. Put the 6 skillets onto 2 baking sheets and fill the skillets with the cooled beef mixture. Sprinkle over some chopped bacon and 1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley on each.
  7. Mix together the egg and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl to make an egg wash. Brush outer edge (1/2″ – 1″) of each pastry circle with egg wash
  8. Top each skillet with a pastry circle, egg washed side down to seal to edge of skillet, pressing along the edges to seal. Brush each pastry lid with the egg wash. Cut small cross in center of pastry to allow steam to escape.
  9. Bake until the pastry is puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Adjustments

  • None

History

  • 2024-1-17 – I made a half recipe but it only made 2 vs. 3 pot pies. Maybe I could have filled the iron skillets less but since it was only 2 of us this worked fine. In the future I think I’d add more of the vegetables to provide more filling. Beef to veg ratio was quite high. Nothing wrong with this but I think more vegetables would balance it better. All this said, they were very tasty!

References